Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) works in the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) less

Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) works in the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP ... more

Lance McCullers Jr. is aware of the meme-driven culture that reels in spectators in real-time during games—including him.

The Twitter account “@PitchingNinja” focuses on pitchers’ most effective quirks and tactics. It gushed about McCullers pausing his front leg to throw off a hitter in a game against the Twins on Feb. 28.

McCullers replied to the Tweet by crediting the varied leg kicks of Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman. Stroman, another darling of the account, commented back to express baseball brotherly love for McCullers.

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In his start against the Brewers on Monday, McCullers paused with his front leg again to test out the tactic and gesture to the fun of fueling social media.

“I got some things coming,” McCullers said, grinning. “I love that Twitter account because he posts a lot, and I feel like a lot of hitters may follow him. I don’t want to divulge all my secrets, so I had to keep my pauses in the bag. But they’re going to be out.”

McCullers allowed two runs and three hits, with three strikeouts, in three innings.

“I’m happy with where I’m at coming out of spring.”

He focused on fastball command, withholding a bevvy of curves until his final inning.

“I’m right where I need to be,” he said. “A lot of strikes with my fastball.”

He kept his pitch count to 50 to stay fresh for his scheduled start against the Rangers on March 31.